Page 14 of Game Winner
I mentally go through our last performance and the fans who came up to us after. “Who?” My friend’s eyes narrow, and he gives me his don’t-bullshit-me look. And then it hits me. “Oh, you mean Soren and Tyler.”
“Unless you’re spending your time after shows kissing other hockey players that I haven’t met yet.”
Heat rushes up my neck because there’s nothing like making out with two gorgeous men who also happen to have the bodies of Greek gods. “No. Just them.” I didn’t realize Layne had seen us together the other night. Not that I’m hiding anything, but I’m not sure the thing between us is anything other than fun. “I don’t know what to say. I like them.”
He smirks. “I got that impression from seeing your tongues down each other’s throats. Are you seeing them tonight?”
“They left for a road trip on Thursday. I’m meeting them for dinner on Monday, when they get back.” It’s only been two days, but my hand itches to grab my phone to see if they’ve texted. We’ve chatted every day, and this morning they sent a selfie of the two of them before practice. Tonight they don’t have a game,so they plan on playing video games with teammates at the hotel. I’d love a lazy Saturday night spent hanging out with them. Hopefully, I’ll get one soon.
“You haven’t dated two people at the same time before. Like, not in a poly relationship.”
I bristle. So what if I haven’t dated two people before. Why would that matter? “So?”
He holds up his hands in surrender. “Just an observation. You know I love you.”
“Yeah.” I take that with a nod, my hackles lowering. I said a similar thing to him the first time he dated an academic instead of his usual creatives from the music or performance fields. Layne is the brother I never had and only wants what’s best for me, the same as I do for him. “So what are we doing tonight? Satyr’s Kiss is performing at a club in Minneapolis. Want to see if there are any tickets left?”
His eyes light up. He loves that band. “Hell, yeah! Let me check their site.”
We both grab our phones. I find new messages from Tyler and Soren, asking how band practice went and if I’ll be available to chat later, plus a selfie of them huddled together on a bed with video game controllers in their hands.
“Whoa.” Layne smacks my forearm before his fingers curl into it and dig in. “Bax. Gavin. Ev.Guys.”
The death grip and the urgency in his tone rip my attention from my text thread. “What?”
His gaze is locked on his phone. “Luke Thompson from Furious Records messaged us.”
My heartbeat jolts, and the surge of adrenaline is enough for me to drop my phone on the floor. Everett and Gavin hurry over.
Luke is a rock music legend. Landing a record deal with his label, which he started with his bandmates, is our dream. They support the hell out of their artists, and we want people likethat in our corner. We’ve sent in demos, but there’s no way of knowing how far they went with the layers of people in a company like that. “What did he say?”
Excitement glittering in his pale blue eyes, he flashes his screen at us before angling it back to read out the message. “He’ll be at Winter Fest. Two of the bands the label represents are playing. He says he just listened to our demo and was impressed by our sound, and is looking forward to seeing us play at the festival. And he’ll be backstage if we’re available for a chat. Do you know what this means?”
“He knows who we are.” My mouth goes slack as my brain scrambles to make sense of this new information. “Luke Thompson knows who we are.” Goosebumps break over my skin. I’d been looking forward to playing at Winter Fest already, but this takes things to a whole other level.
Everett snatches Layne’s phone from his hand and reads the message himself. “More than that. Helikeswhat we do. And he wants to talk to us.”
Layne steals his phone back, and his thumbs tap fast across his keyboard as he replies. “I’m telling him that we’re looking forward to meeting him there. We have two months to perfect our set. Everything about our performance needs to be on point. No room for any mistakes.”
“That includes not taking unnecessary risks, like throwing yourself into the crowd.” I retrieve my phone, eager to share the news with Tyler and Soren. “Diving off the stage, trusting people you don’t know to catch you. It’s not safe.”
Layne’s fierce glare is so sharp, I wouldn’t be surprised if it pierced all the way through me and into the next room. “Nothing bad has happened yet.”
“So stop tempting fate.”
“I’m not the only one who does things like that.” He pokes his finger at my chest. “Remind me, which one of us has a habitof leapingovertheir drum kit at the end of a show? You could land badly and mess up your knee o break your leg. Then we’d be without a drummer.”
Ugh, I hate when he’s right. “Okay, I’ll be more careful.” I point at him. “But you have to be too. This is the chance we’ve been waiting for. If Luke likes what he sees, it might lead to a contract.”
“I know how big this is.” He lifts his chin the same way he does when he’s winding up for a fight. “I won’t fuck it up.”
My jaw clenches at his defensiveness. Sometimes he’s so fucking touchy. “I didn’t say you’d?—”
“Guys. Stop.” Gavin pushes between us, laying his hands on our shoulders. “A rock legend took time out of his day to tell us he likes our music. That’s a great thing on its own, but knowing we get to play in front of him is awesome. Like we’re one step closer. We should be celebrating.”
No one says anything for a moment. Everett’s switching his focus from Layne to me and back again. Gavin releases us and sits on his haunches, crouched and ready to pounce again. A muscle jumps in Layne’s jaw as he picks at a loose thread on his sweater, and my stomach knots. Layne’s going through something, and my saying shit doesn’t help. All it does is bring down the happy vibe.
I tap the toe of my boot into the side of Layne’s sneaker. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Let’s all get a drink somewhere.”
